Darkness
by GrayWolf84
Summary: When three Hazzard youngsters go missing, Bo and Luke Duke join in the search. What happens from there is anyone’s guess... after all, this is Hazzard County. Rated T for some upsetting scenes, no gore or violence.
1. Fourth of July

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**Darkness**

**Chapter 1: Fourth of July**

**The Fourth of July. There ain't no other holiday like it - especially in Hazzard County. The whole county turns out for the fair, the parade down Main Street with flags and streamers waving, and of course, the fireworks. Hazzard County has had the best Fourth of July fireworks in the state for better than forty years - ever since Jesse Duke started tinkering with the formula for the explosives. And every Fourth of July for the last ten years, the Duke family has gotten up even earlier than usual to help out at the annual pancake breakfast at the high school cafeteria, to benefit the local orphanage.**

Bo Duke stood behind the breakfast buffet, a blue-striped apron covering his clothes. He flashed his most winning smile at Claire Dunney as he served the pancakes onto her plate.

"Here ya go, miss, fresh and hot for ya - you do like 'em that way, right?" he added with a wink. She smiled back and was about to say something when a voice called out from the kitchen.

"Bo! Would you quit flirtin' and get back here? I need your help!" Luke Duke called.

Bo rolled his eyes. "My cousin," he explained.

"Sounds like you better go, sugah," Claire said, "We can talk about how I like my pancakes later."

"Well, alright," Bo grinned as she turned and walked away.

"Bo!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!"

The youngest Duke sauntered through the swinging door into the hot kitchen, where Luke stood at the stove poking at a mass of bacon frying on the hottop. He indicated a pan full of pancakes and another of scrambled eggs, which needed to be brought outside.

"Man, I love the Fourth - I get to see all the girls I haven't seen since high school…"

"Since their fathers won't let you within a mile of their farms," Luke quipped.

Bo was undeterred. "Did you see that Claire Dunney? She was just a freshman when I graduated, and she looks _great_."

"No, I didn't see her, cause I've been in here doin' all the work. Now would you get that food out there, and get back in here? I need you to cut up some of that fruit."

Concluding that Luke was just no fun this morning, Bo picked up one pan in each hand and headed back through the swinging door. The door had just closed behind him when three short barefoot figures dashed across his path, whooping to each other on the chase. He backpedaled a step, rebalancing to keep from dropping the pans.

"Hey!" he called after the three boys, but they were gone. Smiling and shaking his head, he continued on to the buffet and replaced the empty pans with the new trays.

"I'm sorry about the boys," an older female voice spoke. Bo looked up. It was Eleanor Sutton, a farmwife from the southeastern end of the county. "They've been so full of energy lately, I swear they're giving me gray hairs."

"Oh, it's alright ma'am. It's not that long since I was twelve myself, and giving Uncle Jesse that white hair he's got now."

Mrs. Sutton smiled and thanked him as she served herself. Heedful of Luke's wrath, Bo excused himself and returned to the kitchen to help his cousin.

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After the pancake breakfast concluded, Bo and Luke made plates for themselves from the leftovers and found Daisy and Uncle Jesse, who had been in charge of collecting donations at the door. They ate quickly and worked together to wash the dishes and clean up the hall, hurrying to finish and make it to the parade on time. Done with ten minutes to spare, they headed out the door and made it to the main thoroughfare just in time. Cooter had saved them all seats in a shady spot on a corner, a small cluster of lawnchairs amid the crowded scene. Uncle Jesse bought all five of them cold lemonade from a little girl's ambitious stand in the town square.

The Fourth of July parade was always a source of fun. The region's state police barracks supplied a quartet of crisply-uniformed troopers who marched in front bearing dress rifles and sabers, followed by Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane and Deputy Sheriff Enos Strate bearing the national and state flags and trying to march in time with the troopers' trained steps. Behind them marched a row of uniformed firefighters, tapping out a marching beat on drums, followed by a group of World War II veterans with the V.F.W. The crowd rose in respect as the flags approached, and Bo saw Luke salute out of the corner of his eye.

The groups that followed were less solemn. The boys and girls of the 4H Club walked with prize horses and sheep on braided leads, groomed to shine with red, white, and blue ribbons tied into mane and tail. The Ladies' Auxillary Club sat aboard a float on the back of a large flatbed truck - a scene of Betsy Ross sewing the first American flag in her living room, with Lulu Hogg as a very large Betsy. The high school marching band played the Star-Spangled Banner, while younger grades rode or ran alongside homemade floats of the Founding Fathers, Valley Forge, and various battles of the Revolutionary War. Luke laughed, elbowing Bo in the ribs and reminding him of the time Bo dressed as George Washington for the third-graders float. Bo laughed back, and reminded _him_ of the time he dressed up as Benjamin Franklin, spectacles and all.

A charming addition to this year's parade was the twelve-horse team of Clydesdales in full harness pulling a long wagon strewn with ribbons and bows and driven by a smartly-dressed man in a silk hat and coattails. The Clydesdale team was visiting from the brewery in Chickasaw County - they traveled to different towns in the northern end of the state each year, mostly just for the publicity, though the reason made no difference to the children who delighted in seeing the massive horses. The horse team brought of the rear of the parade, following an assortment of floats and marching groups too numerous to describe. It was a wonder there was an audience to watch the parade at all, given the number of participants in it.

When the parade concluded, the Dukes, accompanied by Cooter, packed up their lawnchairs and headed for the fairgrounds, carrying their picnic lunch with them. Most of the parade crowd was headed in the same direction, so the walk went slowly as they met up with old friends and past acquaintances, exchanging greetings and news of the last year. By the time they'd finished lunch, it was mid-afternoon, and the fair was in full swing. A carnival company had come in and set up a huge ferris wheel, merry-go-round, spinning teacups, and all the favorite carnival rides. The smell of hotdogs and fried dough drifted through the air.

Judges moved between pens and stables set up at one end of the field, looking at horses, cows, sheep, and pigs for livestock contests, as well as a fine array of coonhounds and bird-dogs. Cooter, Luke, and Bo lingered here, admiring the sleek, fine-boned hounds and talking with the owners on points of hunting. Daisy walked with them for a bit, likewise admiring the beautiful animals, but grew tired of the hunting talk and moved off to find booths of more interest. Uncle Jesse also moved off to talk with an equine judge, apparently an old friend. The boys were left to themselves, and soon lost track of time.

It was their stomachs that finally broke them away from the prize hunting dogs, growling as they realized it was well after dinnertime. Luke searched his pockets for money, and finding none, they decided to find Uncle Jesse, who had long since disappeared into the crowd. They strolled along amiably, trying to guess which way Jesse might have gone. They spotted Daisy chatting with some young women her age near the merry-go-around, and she broke away and joined them. After a few more minutes, Luke spotted Jesse at the booth of an older woman selling an assortment of jams, and the group headed in that direction.

"Bo! Luke!" The quartet stopped and turned at the call, the likes of which was so common that day. It was Mrs. Sutton, waving a hand to flag them down.

"Well, hello Mrs. Sutton," Bo greeted as Daisy and Luke exchanged a quizzical look - Eleanor Sutton was not a particular friend of the family, though they knew her as they knew most everyone in the county.

"I'm glad I saw you - have you seen my two boys lately? They went off with Toby Dunney after the parade, and I haven't seen hide nor hair of them since! They were supposed to meet their father and I for dinner an hour ago. It's not like them to be late like this." The farmwife looked quite worried.

"Well, no, we haven't seen them, but I'm sure they're just fine, Mrs. Sutton," Bo reassured. When she didn't appear comforted, Luke stepped forward.

"We can have a look for them, if you like. Which way do you think they went?"

Mrs. Sutton smiled gratefully. "Oh, you're such good boys. I'm not really sure where to start looking, though. You saw them earlier, they run around like three tornados. I've looked all around the fair and no one's seen them."

"Hmm…that doesn't narrow it down much, but they can't have gone too far. What do you think, Bo?"

"Well, they could be down by Thatcher Brook…"

"Or Cutback Ridge…"

"The Mill Pond…"

"The sandpits…"

"And every bit of forest within three miles of here," Bo concluded.

"That's a lot to search," Luke said, and looked back to Mrs. Sutton, who was listening apprehensively. "Can anyone else help?"

"I'll go find Thomas - he was looking down by the judging circles - and we'll see who we can round up."

"Alright - me and Bo will start out by the sandpits…"

"And me and Cooter will head out to the brook," Daisy added. Cooter looked at her in surprise, wondering how he got dragged into this, and then shrugged agreeably.

"And we'll meet back up here in, say, an hour?" Luke finished.

"Oh, thank you all!"

"Don't worry, Mrs. Sutton, we'll find your boys."

The farmwife thanked them again and left in search of her husband. Bo turned to Luke. "So much for dinner."

Luke shrugged. "Later. Let's tell Uncle Jesse what's going on, and head out."

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An hour later, the searchers returned and met up at outside the fair, empty-handed. Between the Suttons, the Dukes, and Cooter, they'd checked Thatcher Brook, Cutback Ridge, the Mill Pond, the sandpits, and half a dozen other places besides, with no sign of the three boys. Luke and Bo were both truly concerned now. After they all shared news of their searches, the group leaned back against their respective cars, thinking. In just a few moments, Luke snapped his fingers and looked up.

"I've got it!"

Everyone looked up hopefully.

"Bo, what was the ultimate dare when we were younger?"

Bo looked at him blankly. "Catching a look at girls going skinny-dipping?"

"No! Before girls!"

His cousin stared at him, trying to remember if there was a time before girls.

"Bentley's Caves," Luke reminded him.

"Oh! _Oh_," Bo repeated, more ominously.

Thomas Sutton looked from Duke to Duke. "Bentley's Caves? You boys don't mean the old mines? Impossible, there's not a man, woman, or child in Hazzard that would go anywhere near there!"

Bentley's Caves, as the schoolchildren knew the old mines, were a complex of coal mines cut into Far Ridge. Some nineteen years ago, a fault in the mines shifted and collapsed a majority of the tunnels in a cloud of black dust. Every man inside was killed, and there wasn't a family in Hazzard that hadn't lost a friend or a son. The residents avoided the old mines like the plague, and indeed held them to be a source of bad luck. Parts of the old tunnels remained, black as night, and were occasionally used as dens by bears or cougars. They were also used by school-age country boys in a test of courage, as they dared each other to go deeper and deeper into the tunnels in search of bodies or buried treasure. The children's name for the caves came from the story of Richard Bentley, the mining foreman whose ghost was supposed to haunt the tunnels.

Mrs. Sutton gasped as Luke explained this last secret of Hazzard boyhood. "They wouldn't! Would they?" she looked at her husband.

"Sounds like we'd better check it at least," he said, putting a comforting arm around her shoulders.

"Right," Luke said, "We've got some flashlights in Uncle Jesse's truck. Let's get going."

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The sun was leaning down in the western sky when they arrived at the main cave entrance on Far Ridge, casting long rays into the tunnel mouth. They left the vehicles in the now-overgrown parking lot at the bottom of a 100-yard dirt track leading up a moderate slope to the entrance. The group started up the slope, Luke and Bo in the lead, watching for signs of the boys. They saw nothing when the reached the cave mouth.

"Lawrence! Noah!" Mrs. Sutton called for her sons. Her husband walked along the hillside to the right of the cave, finding a better vantage to look out across the valley.

Luke watched them, frustrated, and wondered what he could say to the worried parents. Then he heard a quiet, but distinct **sniff!** from inside the cave. Switching on his flashlight, he turned to look inside. Bo, Daisy, and Cooter, who hadn't heard the sound, followed him curiously. A few feet inside the cave, just around a slight bend, Luke's flashlight shined on a young boy sitting on a coal boulder, sniffing and crying quietly. Luke motioned for the others to back off a little, and he approached the boy.

"Noah Sutton?" he asked. The boy nodded, wiping his eyes. He couldn't be more than ten. "I'm Luke Duke, a friend of your parents. Your momma and daddy are a little ways outside, and we were all worried about you. Is your brother and his friend here? Can you tell me what happened?"

The boy sniffed again. "They left me behind. I was scared, and they told me I was chicken, and they left me behind."

"Noah!" Mrs. Sutton cried, running into the cave mouth. Bo had fetched her with the news. She swept up her youngest son in a fierce hug. "Where is your brother, and Toby?"

"He said they went further down in the caves, left him behind," Luke answered.

"When was that?" Mr. Sutton asked his son over his wife's shoulder.

"I dunno," the boy whimpered, "They've been gone a real long time."

Thomas Sutton's eyes met Luke's.

"We'll look for them. You stay here with your wife and son. Daisy, get ahold of Rosco on the CB - we might need more help up here," Luke said, looking to Bo and Cooter for confirmation.

Daisy frowned. "Y'all better not think you're leaving me here! You think the girls never come up here with the same dares as you boys?"

Bo grinned. "Well, let's get going then!"

"Be careful, all of you," Mr. Sutton cautioned, taking his son from his wife's arms.

"We'll be back with Toby and Lawrence before you know it," Luke reassured him.

Armed with flashlights, the Duke cousins and their mechanic friend set off down the black tunnel.

**Now, why do I get the feelin' that even though it's the Sutton boys who started this mess, it's gonna be the Dukes who end up in trouble?**

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	2. Someday the Mountain Might Get 'Em

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**Chapter 2: Someday the Mountain Might Get 'Em**

After only a few minutes, the quartet reached a split in the broad tunnel, with a slightly narrower tunnel breaking off to the left. The four looked at each other.

"Cooter and I will go this way," Daisy declared before anyone else spoke.

Luke nodded in agreement. They split up into two pairs, and continued on their way, calling the boys' names occasionally as they went. Daisy and Cooter headed into the side tunnel, searching the darkness with their flashlights. After twenty minutes or so, the tunnel forked again.

"We'd better split up," Daisy said.

"You sure you'll be okay?" Cooter asked in a tone that hoped she'd say no. He remembered coming in here when he was younger, no light, on a dare from his brother BB. He'd wandered around lost for hours until finding his way back out and finding that his brother had left to go fishing instead of waiting.

"I'll be just fine, Cooter. Besides, half these tunnels are blocked from the collapse in '59, they don't go very far. I'll meet you back here."

The mechanic nodded, and they each headed down a branch of the tunnel. Sure enough, Cooter found his tunnel was blocked about sixty feet in, with no sign of the boys. He turned around and waited for Daisy at the branch. She appeared a few moments later.

"Blocked," she explained.

"Mine too."

"Let's go see if we can catch up to Bo and Luke."

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Just a few minutes after leaving Daisy and Cooter at the side-tunnel, the Duke boys reached another branch, this time with two side-tunnels bending off to the left and right of the wider mainway. The mines were a regular rabbit warren, and it was easy to see how a boy could get lost without a light.

"I'll take this one," Bo said, indicating the right branch with his flashlight.

"Alright. I'll take the other branch. Go on down the main line if you don't find anything, I'll catch up."

"Sounds good. Be careful."

Luke heard Bo calling the boys' names as they moved apart down each branch. The sound echoed along the length of the tunnels. After another ten minute's walking and calling, Luke hit a dead end, the way blocked by the old collapse. He shivered to look at the broken stone that had ended so many men's lives, their remains still trapped somewhere beneath the rubble. It was exciting to come into the caves as a boy - it was unnerving to walk into the tunnels as a man.

Luke turned around and hurried back out to the mainway. He waited a few minutes at the mouth of the branch to see if Bo had the same result, but he could no longer hear his cousin's voice calling. Instead, he heard Daisy.

"Luke! Bo! That you?" she called, flashlight bobbing.

"Just me. Bo's down the side-tunnel there. He's gonna meet up with us down the main tunnel. I just checked this one - dead end."

"Ours too. Let's keep going - I don't like it in here," Daisy said with a frown.

Luke had noticed, as they continued down the tunnel, that the air was starting to feel thick and stale, as they moved further from the entrance. That and the darkness gave the tunnels a close, claustrophobic feel.

"I tell you, though," Cooter said to the Duke cousins after calling for the boys again, "Them two boys is real brave, coming all the way back here - I know I never made it this far."

"Me neither," Luke agreed.

"I did," Daisy said, "The tunnel branches again a little further on."

Luke was lucky Daisy didn't see the surprise on his face. If she had, he'd have starch in his shorts for a month for sure.

Sure enough, the tunnel branched one more time, and Daisy took Cooter with her again down the left branch. Luke headed down the right. He was beginning to wonder if the boys really were here somewhere, or if they had somehow snuck past little Noah Sutton in the dark to play a prank on him. The searchers had been in the tunnels for at least an hour without a sign of the boys. His doubt was soon cut short, though, as the echo of another voice answered his call.

"…ere!"

"Daisy, Cooter, I got 'em!" Luke called at the top of his lungs, hoping they would hear him, as he trotted forward. "Lawrence! Toby! Stay where you are, I'll come to you!" he hollered.

"Here, we're down here!" the voice called, closer this time. Luke ran as fast as he could while avoiding rubble in his path and watching for side-tunnels.

"Are you boys alright?" he called, hoping to keep them talking and be guided by their voices.

"We're okay! We got lost! Is Noah alright?" a second voice called back, much closer. Luke skidded to a stop as he came around a sharp bend, narrowly avoiding running into the boys. They sat on the rubble of a cave-in, clearly scared. One was dark-haired and the spitting image of Thomas Sutton. The other was brown-haired, taller, with a cut on his cheek where it looked like he'd fallen down.

"Noah's fine," Luke said, catching his breath, "But your parents are worried sick."

"Who're you?" Toby Dunney asked suspiciously.

"I'm the guy who just found you. Come on, let's go." Seeing the stubborn set in the boy's jaw, Luke relented, annoyed. "Luke Duke. Mrs. Sutton asked my family for helping finding you."

Lawrence turned to Toby. "He's the one with the car!"

"The General Lee?" Toby looked at Luke, awed. He knew the reputation of both the car and the owners, on the race track and off.

Luke nodded confirmation. "Can we go now? These caves aren't safe - that's why you're supposed to stay out," he lectured, thinking that he'd never wanted to be the one giving that lecture.

The boys stood up, dusting themselves off, and followed him back the way he'd come. They met up with Daisy and Cooter towards the end of the branch. They had heard his call, and abandoned their branch to meet him. Cooter looked relieved, but he wasn't the only one. All five - three adults and two boys - hurried along the main tunnel, eager to be out. They still hadn't met up with Bo. They stopped at the side-tunnel where he'd broken off.

"Bo! We found 'em!" Luke called down the tunnel. He paused and listened for a response. Nothing. "Bo!"

The sound Luke heard next had none of the dulcet tones of his cousin, and all the rumbling growl of a rockslide. Luke looked around in alarm at the dust that fell from the ceiling all around them, and the tremor he felt beneath his feet. For a split second, he was torn between his choices, before shouting "RUN!" and pushing both boys before him. All five sprinted for the cave mouth at top speed as the rumbling sound followed at their heels, spewing dust into the air. Coughing and choking, they turned a bend and saw the fading sunlight, and poured on the speed.

Both boys shot out the cave mouth into the waiting arms of their parents. Daisy and Cooter were close behind, followed last by Luke. Uncle Jesse, Rosco, and Enos all waited outside the cave with the Sutton and Dunney families, and a small assortment of other families waited in the parking lot below, friends of the lost boys. Claire Dunney held her mother and younger brother in a close hug. The rumbling ceased as Luke coughed and leaned with his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. Uncle Jesse patted him on the back and handed him water from a waiting pitcher. Daisy and Cooter received the same care from Enos. Luke drank thirstily and coughed one more time before straightening up and looking around.

"Is Bo out here?" he asked, searching the faces nearby.

Jesse shook his head slowly. "No, he's not."

Luke looked back at the cave mouth in horror, the thick cloud of black coal dust beginning to settle around the entrance. "Then he's still in there."

**Hmm...somethin' tells me I wouldn't want to be Bo Duke just now.**

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	3. At Fault

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Chapter 3: At Fault

After splitting up with Luke at the main branch, Bo headed down the right side-tunnel, calling for the missing boys. This tunnel wound back and forth, heading deep into the ridge. There were any number of short side-tunnels, just twenty feet long or so, on either side. He shined his flashlight into each and moved on. He lost track of how far he'd gone. After twenty minutes or so, he was starting to get nervous. The tunnel became narrower, starting out about ten feet wide and now tapering down to five feet. Then he came around a corner and came face to face with a solid wall of angled rock, nearly walking right into it as he could hardly distinguish the black rock from the black darkness beyond the flashlight. Now annoyed, he turned around and started back.

He hadn't walked for more than a few minutes when he distantly heard Luke's voice. He couldn't make out the words. "Hang on, I'm coming!" he called and broke into a trot. Then the rumbling sound started. Bo immediately recognized it for what it was and broke into a full run, knowing his life depended on it. Failing to see the turn of a sharp bend, he slammed into the wall and fell to the ground. Scrambling to his feet, he took off again amid the coal dust falling from the ceiling and tunnel walls. He could heard bits of the tunnel wall breaking and crumbling behind him, and he dodged the occasional rubble that fell into his path. His lungs burned with the effort of breathing through the thick dust.

Bo didn't know how close he was to the mainway when the side-tunnel walls collapsed around him.

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_I'm dead_ came his first thought, _And this ain't Heaven_, came his second. He tried to look around, but all he saw was black. He wondered if he was blind. He tried to pick himself up, but moving his left arm sent pain shooting through his arm and shoulder. _I don't think it would hurt like that if I was dead._ He lay still on his stomach and tested the muscles in the rest of his body, waiting for pain that didn't come. His back felt sore and bruised, and his chest ached, but his arm was the only real source of pain. He began to feel the edge of panic as he tried to move his legs and found that he couldn't. He stopped the effort and took a deep breath, counting to ten. Then he tried again. He could _feel_ the muscles in his legs straining, he could feel his toes wiggling in his boots, but he couldn't move. He reached back with his good arm and felt loose bits of small rubble around his waist. _Just breath_. The air felt thick and hot. He coughed, soot in his nose, mouth, and lungs. He reached upwards, and felt rock just a foot above his head, slanting to the left. More feeling around proved it to be a solid slab leaning from the tunnel wall to the floor. He began to tremble with fear. He reached out in front. A basketball-sized boulder lay just ahead to the left, and beyond that - broken rubble. He was trapped.

That was when Bo panicked.

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"BO!" Luke cried, and bolted back into the cave before anyone could stop him. Cooter was the first to follow, then Daisy, Uncle Jesse, Enos, Thomas Sutton, and Carl Dunney. Rosco was left stammering outside with the mothers and their children.

"Gu…y…you…I…I'll just stay here then."

Luke ran down the now-familiar main tunnel, holding a handkerchief over his mouth and nose. The main tunnel appeared well-supported enough to hold up against the fault shift, but the first side tunnel he passed had collapsed. Luke didn't even pause to think of what might have happened to Daisy and Cooter if the timing had been different. A sob choked him as he saw the next side-tunnel on the right, strewn with rubble and broken boulders. The tunnel was blocked as completely as any the searchers had encountered elsewhere in the caves. Luke fell to his knees amid the debris as the rest of his family came up behind him.

"I should have waited…I should have gone after him…" he whispered, tears streaming tracks down his soot-covered face. Uncle Jesse put a shaking hand on his shoulder, staring at the ruins himself.

"No, Luke, then it would be both of you in there. You did the right thing, you got those boys out safe."

Daisy turned to cry in Enos' arms. Cooter stuck his hands in his pockets, biting his lip and squinting to keep the tears from falling. Sutton and Dunney were at a loss, having no words for the family who had lost a son to save theirs. Luke shook with silent tears, eyes closed tight against the pain in his heart. It was Jesse who heard the dim sound first.

Luke only noticed that Jesse stepped out from behind him and knelt next to the tunnel wall, pressing his ear to the rock. He listened for a moment as the others looked on, wondering at his purpose. Then he smiled that Uncle Jesse smile, stood up, and walked back to Luke.

"Don't give him up as dead yet, son. If he is, that's the loudest corpse I've ever heard."

Luke stared at his uncle, fearing to hope, and scrambled to press his ear to the wall as the others did the same.

"HELP!" Bo was howling at the top of his lungs, "SOMEBODY! LUKE! I'M IN HERE!" He grabbed a fist-sized rock and smashed it against the wall, making as much noise as he could. "HELP!" His reason was gone entirely - he acted on blind instinct. He stopped screaming when a fit of coughing wracked his lungs, and paused, gasping for breath.

"BO! BO, WE'RE HERE!" he heard dimly through the rubble.

Bo was breathing hard, and didn't have the strength to shout an answer. Luke looked up at the faces around him, searching for the right plan.

"He can't be that far in, if we can hear him from here. And he can't be hurt too bad, if he can call like that," the elder Duke cousin deduced. "But…there's no hole in the rubble, no vent…he can't have enough air for very long…" He fell silent at the conclusion. They'd never dig Bo out fast enough.

Thomas Sutton broke his silence. "I've got some plumbing pipes in my truck…maybe if we use a sledgehammer…"

"…We can get him an air line and have more time to dig him out!" Luke jumped to his feet. "Let's do it! Bo! We're gonna get you out! Hang on!" he called to his cousin, confidence returning to his voice.

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Rosco was standing outside looking from the mine tunnel to the families beside him to the families gathered down below, trying to decide the best course of action - that is, the course of action that would be him look best in the public eye. He was still torn between decisions when Luke Duke came jogging out of the tunnel, calling "Bo's alive, we're gonna get him out!" as he passed. He was closely followed by Thomas Sutton and Cooter, heading down to the trucks in the parking lot, with the others a little further behind.

The sheriff watched them run past, bewildered, until Jesse clapped him on the shoulder from behind. Rosco jumped, startled, and turned around.

"Rosco! Get back over to the fair and get us some help - we're gonna need some strong backs and equipment to dig," Jesse ordered.

Rosco stammered again, thinking that he was supposed to be the one in charge at a time like this - not that he would say it to Jesse Duke's face. Then he spotted Enos.

"Enos! You heard him, get out there!" Rosco ordered.

"But...but Sheriff, I was gonna…"

"I said get out there, you dipstick! We gotta help these Dukes!"

Enos gave up arguing. "Alright, then. I'll be back quick as I can, Uncle Jesse."

"I am _not_ your uncle!" Jesse called after him as Enos headed down the path.

Luke, Cooter, and the rest jogged past Enos on the way, arms loaded with equipment. Rosco was left stammering again as they went past, and Jesse followed them back inside.

"Gu…you…I'll just stay here then."

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Daisy and Jesse stood back, holding flashlights to light the scene, while the others worked. They'd brought in half a dozen two-inch wide plumbing pipes, each about five feet long, and a couple of heavy sledgehammers from Sutton's pickup truck - he'd just bought a load of tools and materials in town for some construction work on the farm. Thomas Sutton also carried a coil of heavy steel cable, and sat back working something with it under Daisy's light. Luke knelt next to the tunnel wall again.

"Bo! Can you hear me?" he called loudly.

"Yeah!" came the dim, muffled response. Bo had calmed down somewhat since hearing Luke earlier, but he still shivered in fear in the darkness, a dangerous flicker of hope lighting in his mind. The terrified adrenaline rush was wearing off, and he was feeling the pain in his broken arm and the tightness of the rubble around his legs all the more.

"Are you hurt?"

"I think my arm's broken…but I'm okay. Luke, please, get me out of here!"

"I will, Bo! Can you tell me where you are?"

"I'm next to a wall, I think…there's a big slab of rock above me, I got knocked down flat."

Neither cousin could hear every word shouted by the other, but enough came through to understand.

Luke tried to think of how to locate his cousin, so they'd know which direction to drive the pipes in. "Can you…can you bang a rock against the wall?"

Luke pressed his ear hard against the tunnel wall to the right of the collapsed ruins, listening to locate the sound. Cooter did the same on the opposite side.

"Can't hear nothin' here," the mechanic said. Luke could hear a steady **clunk clunk clunk**.

"He must be on this side," Luke told the group. "Alright, Bo! We've got it!" He reached for the first pipe and regarded the rubble for a moment, trying to decide on the best angle and position to slide it in along the side-tunnel wall.

"Hang on," Sutton said, and took the pipe back from him. The handy farmer snaked his steel cable through the pipe. A one-inch hook was bent backwards on the end, which he hooked to the end of the pipe. Luke looked at him questioningly. "When we get the pipe through the rubble, we pull it back a little bit, unhook the wire, and pull it through, clear out the inside of the pipe." He demonstrated. Luke smiled.

"Genius."

He scooped at the rubble with a hand-sized flat piece of rock, clearing as much as he could before settling the pipe and wire into place. He held it down and looked to Cooter, who had picked up one of the sledgehammers. He gave a nod. **WHAM!** Cooter slammed the heavy tool into the other end of the pipe, sending it a good foot into the rubble. Luke grinned. **WHAM!** Cooter hit it again. Another foot. He passed off the hammer to Sutton, who hit it twice more before they cleared the pipe out, lined up another one behind it, and started again.

--------------

Bo let the rock drop with a clatter and his tired arm fell back to the ground, limp with the effort. His whole body was starting to feel fatigued. The first strike of the sledgehammer startled him, sending more bits of dust into the air in the few cubic feet of space around him. Soon, though, the steady pounding took on a regular beat, and he only noticed when there was a long pause between strokes. He relaxed a little, reassured that Luke was out there. Besides, he was so tired. He curled his good arm and lay his head against the crook of his elbow, closing his eyes - not that it made a difference in the darkness, but it felt better nonetheless. He started to doze, not noticing how his lungs fought deep and hard for every breath, or the fuzzy tingling in his fingertips and toes as they buzzed for oxygen.

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	4. Friends in Need

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**Chapter 4: Friends In Need**

It was pain that roused him. Something touched his broken arm, and he moaned. He heard his name called, louder, echoing metallically. Something scraped and scratched, and he could smell the fresh air flowing in front of his nose. He took a gulp of air, then another, and another, drinking in the cool, clean air.

"Bo!" Luke called again, fear edging his voice. Driving the line of five and a half pipes - twenty-eight feet - had taken a little over twenty minutes as all six rescuers worked furiously against the clock, despairing over every snag and elated with every successful swing of the hammer. Bo had been silent throughout, though, and every one of them feared the worst. "Bo! Can you hear me?"

"What?" Bo's voice came through the pipe, sounding annoyed and somewhat groggy. " 'S tryin' to sleep…"

Luke gulped, instantly realizing the meaning of Bo's words. He looked wide-eyed at Jesse and Daisy, the blood drained from their faces.

"Are you alright?" he asked when he trusted his voice again.

Silence. Then, "Yeah…yeah, I'm okay," Bo replied, more lucid with every breath. "Jesus…" Luke heard him swear to himself, and thought his cousin must have realized what almost happened. They no longer had to shout - the wide pipe opened a clear channel to communicate. "Luke, I woulda...I almost…"

"I know, Bo," Luke cut him off. He didn't want to hear the words said.

"Thank you." Pause. "Who else is out there?"

"Uncle Jesse, Daisy, Cooter, Mr. Sutton and Mr. Dunney. There's more outside - Enos went to get help for the digging."

"Thank you," Bo said again hoarsely, his voice shaking.

Uncle Jesse knelt down by the pipe. "Bo, we need to go get tools, and see if Enos is back yet. We'll be right back."

"No!" Bo cried suddenly. "Please…don't leave me." Jesse's heart broke to hear the fear in his voice.

"I'll stay, Bo," Luke said.

"We won't be gone long," Jesse said for Luke and Bo's benefit both, patting his nephew on the shoulder comfortingly. The others followed him as he headed back outside, Daisy lingering to hug Luke around the neck before following.

---------------

The sight that greeted them when they reached the mine entrance was a shock. Darkness had fallen completely while they worked inside, but the entire parking area and the adjacent fields were lit by dozens and dozens of truck and car headlights. It looked like half the county had left the fair at Enos' news to come help. Even those who barely knew the Dukes remembered the pain of losing loved ones to the mine, and came determined to keep the damned caves from taking another. Rosco had his hands full trying to organize the sheer volume of people who arrived and parked wherever they could find space. A number of tables were set up off to the southeast of the overgrown parking lot, with food being prepared and brought out by wives and daughters. The Suttons and Dunneys were among them, the boys - looking miserable - not more than a few feet from their mothers at any time. A cluster of men gathered closer to the old road leading up to the entrance, picks, shovels, and buckets in hand. The appearance of the group at the mine entrance sent a visible ripple of quiet through the crowd, and eyes looked up expectantly. Jesse stepped forward once the shock wore off.

"He's alive, and he's alright for now," Jesse announced, his voice echoing in the natural amphitheater. Exclamations and sighs of relief were quickly hushed. "It's gonna take some work to get him out, and I can't…" His voice broke with emotion, and he stopped to clear his throat, "I can't tell you how much it means to us, to see you all here, and how much it means to Bo. Thank you," he finished simply, never one for long speeches. The activity below resumed, and the group walked down to meet the men waiting with tools. One of them stepped forward.

"Ben Howell," he introduced himself. He was an older man, younger than Jesse but older than Sutton or Dunney, with peppered black hair and a thick mustache. "I was a foreman here, before the collapse. My brother got killed in there, making sure his coworkers got out. I won't let your boy join him." He looked back at the two-dozen-odd men behind him, most of whom Jesse had never personally met before, though a few familiar faces were mixed in. "We'll all dig for you."

Jesse nodded, knowing how many others had similar stories.

Thomas Sutton spoke up. "We can use the planks and beams I've got in the truck for shoring, but we're probably gonna need more than that.

Howell pointed behind him. "There's some fellas back there that live too far off to go get tools, but I'm sure they'll make a run for lumber. The owner of the mill yard is there with them."

"Thank you, all," Jesse said again. This was why he loved Hazzard - it wasn't the land, the farm, or the fields, it was the people who were always ready to lend a hand to help a friend, a neighbor, a stranger in need. That was why he'd fought so hard against men like J.D. Hogg, men in the system, all his life. And now they fought for him too.

"Why don't you show me where your boy is, so we can come up with a plan. We can't just send twenty men in there with shovels - the rest of the tunnel could go at any minute, especially if we hit something the wrong way," Howell said, blunt and straightforward.

Jesse nodded again, and turned to lead him up the slope. Sutton and Dunney went to get their own shovels and rejoined the digging group. Daisy elected to go find Enos and talk with the other women and share details of the afternoon - she could already hear snatches of rumor and talk about what had happened. Cooter followed Jesse and Howell back into the caves, figuring at least he could keep Luke company until things got underway.

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Luke sat with his back against the main tunnel wall, arms hugging his knees. His flashlight lay on the ground to one side, shining against the collapsed side-tunnel on the other side.

"How you doin', cuz?" he asked softly as the footsteps died away.

"I'm alright," Bo replied. He didn't sound alright, and Luke said as much. "My arm hurts…and it's real dark, I can't see anything." His voice shook.

Luke rolled onto his knees and picked up the flashlight, placing it a few inches from the pipe so the beam shined down its length. "How's that? Can you see it?"

"Yeah!" The relief was evident in his cousin's voice. Bo really had begun to wonder if he was blind. The thin beam of light barely made it down the long tube, but that trickle of light was enough to lighten the black that surrounded him. There was little to see. What wasn't coal was covered in coal dust. He looked around, dimly able to make out the dimensions of the little pocket, but sight only confirmed what touch had already told him. A large slab of solid rock leaned from the wall to his left to the ground on his right, about three feet high at the wall. Some larger broken pieces and loose rubbles had swept in around the boulder in front of him, pierced through by the pipe that stuck just out a few inches from his broken arm. His legs were buried in similar loose debris just past his knees. He looking back, holding himself up with his good arm, and tried shifting his legs again with a grunt of effort. The attempt improved the circulation in his legs, but only scattered more loose rubble and dust into the tiny space.

"What's that?" Luke asked, hearing the sound.

"Just trying to move my legs - they're buried in a pile of rubble."

"Are they hurt?"

"No, just trapped - I can't move them without more rocks piling in here."

"Don't move them, then!"

"Easy for you to say!" Bo sounded hurt and angry.

"Bo, I just meant…"

"I know, I'm sorry."

Luke heard Uncle Jesse approaching with Ben Howell and Cooter.

"…Right up here, Mr. Howell. This here's my nephew Luke," Jesse was saying.

Luke stood to shake the man's hand, and Jesse explained Howell's experience with mining to his nephew. He'd already told the former mining foreman about the search for the lost boys and the collapse. Howell took a step back to assess the tunnel, sweeping across the wreckage with his flashlight.

"Boy, do I remember this one. This was the last tunnel we mined before the accident. Rich, absolutely rich with prime grade coal." His expression deepened into a scowl. "We dug straight through a fault in the stone, didn't even notice it. Had a whole network of tunnels near clean through to the other side of the ridge. Then one day, the fault shifts," he mimicked the movement, holding his hands flat together and angled downwards, sliding one down the top of the other, "Just like an earthquake, but much smaller. Happens all the time over in England - they call 'em 'normal' faults. Then every man in those tunnels back there was gone, buried, and a fair number in the closer tunnels too. God, what an awful day." He hardly seemed to notice that he was thinking out loud. Luke, Jesse, and Cooter listened intently. Howell's eyes scanned the debris, and caught on the pipe sticking out with the flashlight shining in. He knelt down next to it.

"How you doin', son?" he asked gently.

"I'm alright…who's that?" Bo answered, sounding more self-assured than he felt.

"Name's Ben Howell, I used to be a miner in here - I'm gonna help your family get you out, okay?"

"Okay."

"Now, we're gonna be doin' a lot of movin' around and diggin' out here, and I don't think this flashlight's gonna be able to stay here - you gonna be okay without it?"

"Yeah, I'll be okay. Is Luke or Uncle Jesse still there?"

Cooter spoke up. "We're all here, buddy."

Howell nodded, and spoke again. "We'll be here, son, but we'll be digging - you give a holler if you need anything, alright?"

"Alright," Bo agreed. As long as they were there, as long as they didn't leave him, he'd agree to anything.

"Alright," Howell echoed, standing up. "Let's get a couple of those boys up here, and start bracing the tunnel. It's gonna be a long night," he said to Jesse.

**I don't know about y'all, but I know _I'm_ not gonna sleep until this is through!**

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	5. Hogg Over Heels & The Digging Begins

**Author's Notes: ****There is one particular scene here that y'all may not find entirely characteristic, but it's something I've been wanting to see happen for some time now, and dang it, it's my fanfic. :-D ****Enjoy.**

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**Chapter 5: Hogg Over Heels/The Digging Begins**

Howell took Cooter with him to collect manpower and materials for the digging effort. They passed Daisy coming in along the way - she'd come in to tell Cooter and Luke that the women had food ready down below, knowing they hadn't eaten dinner. Jesse insisted that Luke go eat, though Luke was reluctant to leave. He finally agreed when Jesse told him he'd dig better on a full stomach than an empty one. Daisy led him out, taking his arm as a lady would hold a gentleman's.

Luke was just as shocked to see the turnout of folks who'd come to help and lend support. Howell and Cooter were talking to the groups of men at the bottom of the slope, and he could smell the scent of hot food drifting up from the tables set up on the field. Small children had been taken home by elder siblings, but mothers and older children remained, playing and chatting in vigil while their husbands prepared to work. Luke and Daisy walked down the slope, the latter keeping her impatient cousin from running to eat and get back to the mine. As they reached the parking lot, a familiar white open-topped car drove up, steer horns fixed to the hood. The driver stopped nearby, and Boss Hogg climbed out.

"Luke! Oh, the poor boy, the poor boy!" Boss cried melodramatically. Cooter and Howell turned to look, along with many other eyes from those gathered together. "I have always said that Bo Duke was one of the best, one of the very best Hazzard County had to offer. What a tragedy!"

Daisy felt Luke tense, watching the display.

"Luke, Daisy, let me offer you my heartfelt condolences for your loss. Oh, the poor boy!" Boss cried again, stepping towards the Duke cousins.

In a movement too fast for Daisy to protest, Luke took two steps forward and punched Boss Hogg square in the jaw with a strong right hook, sending him tumbling head over heels into the dirt.

"I don't know what your angle is or what you hope to get from this, but you're not making _a dime_ off this '_tragedy'_!" Luke snarled angrily, "Bo's not dead! And he's not gonna be any time soon!"

More than a few jaws hung open in shock as Luke Duke stalked away from the county commissioner struggling to pick himself up off the ground.

"Help me! Help me! Assault! Battery! Rosco, arrest him!" Boss cried out, eliciting a patter of laughter from the group of men nearby. Rosco didn't bother, more afraid of the mood of the crowd than of Boss Hogg just now.

By the time Luke reached the tables of food, applause had started among the crowd, building strong to include shouts and catcalls of approval. Luke smiled despite himself, gratefully serving himself a plate of fried chicken, corn on the cob, and bits and pieces of every other dish on the table - he knew all eyes were on him, and he didn't want to offend any of the generous ladies who'd contributed their culinary skills. Then he went and sat down on an open spot on the grass where he could eat and watch the activity around him. Daisy soon joined him, bringing him a glass of lemonade, though she hardly knew whether to scold him or congratulate him. He just grinned, and she smiled back, and left it at that.

It didn't take Luke long to eat - not only because he wanted to get back up to the tunnels, but he was also very hungry - it seemed a very long time since that picnic lunch after noon. Mrs. Dunney came to gather his dishes and thank him for finding her son - she hadn't had the chance until then. Luke accepted her thanks with all the grace he could muster, but when she'd left, he looked back up the hill to the mine.

"Can I go back now?" he asked his keeper with a teasing tone, though the question was serious. Howell and Cooter had headed in with a group of men several minutes before.

"Yes, let's go," Daisy granted permission with a smile, pulling herself to her feet.

Luke walked with long strides back up the slope into the caves, Daisy keeping pace. Inside, a group of men were securing beams to frame the entrance of the collapsed side-branch, the first of many they'd use to shore up the shaky tunnel as they dug. Jesse stood aside, talking with Ben Howell in low voices. Jesse's face looked deeply serious.

"I think Luke and Daisy should hear this," they heard him say, and he motioned them to come over. Luke furrowed his brow with concern.

Howell turned to them both, speaking so quietly that not even the other workers could overhear. "What I was telling your uncle is, this is going to be dangerous."

Luke nodded - danger was no problem for him.

Howell shook his head, interpreting Luke's meaning. "Not for us, for Bo. As we dig, every hit with a shovel, every strike with a pick, is going to shift the rubble in there just a little bit. When you put that pipe in, you did the same thing - it was risky, but it bought him time. You said he told you there was a big slab of rock leaning over him, that that's what saved him…if our digging shifts things too much…"

"…That rock could fall and kill him," Luke finished for him, just as quietly. He met Jesse's eyes. "What other choice do we have?"

"We don't," Howell said bluntly, "But I wanted to make sure you knew the possibility."

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Once the first shoring was in place, Howell organized the men into four groups. Luke, Cooter, and Jesse all joined in. One group of six was sent outside, to wait. One group held flashlights on the digging and watched for problems. One group hauled buckets of debris towards the back of the cave, piling it up near the last branches of the main tunnel. The last group - including Luke - went at the collapse with pick and shovel with a will, biting into the rocks and boulders with straining muscles. Daisy stood back with the flashlights, keeping an eye on the two-inch pipe that was Bo's lifeline.

The first few feet of the dig went quickly and well, and they had cleared to end of the second pipe when Howell called a halt. The diggers were sent outside to rest and send in the waiting group, and each crew rotated - except Luke. He refused to leave the digging, and Howell didn't argue with him. The second digging crew hoisted another set of beams and shoring, to keep the unstable walls from tumbling in on them. Other men from outside brought in loads of lumber, and several women brought in pitchers of water, glasses, and towels. Though it was a fine cool summer night outside, it was quickly growing hot inside the tunnel.

Bo listened to the shoveling with hope. Dust specks floated down and made him sneeze. He was back in darkness, but it hardly mattered…there was just a few feet of broken stone between him and freedom. The work resumed, and he thought he could pick Luke's efforts out from the rest. He heard voices here and there as they spoke warnings and encouragement, working together to move a heavy boulder. It grew hot, and he inched closer to the pipe for cleaner air. He wanted to call out, to hear a comforting voice, but he didn't want to disturb their efforts, so he lay silent, just listening.

When another length of pipe came uncovered, Howell rotated the crews again. Again, Luke refused to move. Howell frowned, but again allowed it. He couldn't blame the man for his fear and worry, and he drew energy from it like four other men combined. More shoring went up. Just fifteen feet - three lengths of pipe - to go. The work had become more difficult - large boulders had to be dug around and heaved out, wider sections of the tunnel had collapsed further in, and the constant danger of collapse overhead kept several men jumping at each flutter of dust.

Outside, it was drawing late, well after midnight. Many of the women and some of the lumber-deliverymen went home, planning to return early in the morning. Others stayed, spreading out blankets to sleep under the stars and wait for news. Campfires were built here and there, by those who didn't intend to sleep - at first Rosco tried ticketing several people for starting a fire without a permit, until the county fire chief stood up at one campfire and declared all the fires permitted. Some of the men on the digging crews came down from the mines on their rest shift and traded places with fresh men. Tired of sitting around, some women came up as well, taking the place of flashlight holders or bucket-haulers and running water to each of the workers. It heartened every one of the Dukes to see how so many people cared and how much they were willing to help.

A hour passed before the third pipe was cleared, and part of the fourth. When Howell changed the crews this time, he refused to let Luke stay on. The dark-haired Duke argued, but Howell would have none of it. The young man was soaked with sweat and pale with exhaustion, and if it weren't for the shovel holding him upright his trembling limbs might not have held.

"That's your cousin in there, but this is my work out here, son, and you're done until I say so. You listen to me or these fellows will drag you out," Howell told him gruffly. When the elder Duke cousin's fiercely stubborn expressed didn't change, he went on. "You think you'll do your cousin a bit of good if you work yourself to death trying to reach him? He's gonna need you," he emphasized, jabbing a finger at Luke's chest, "To be strong, to be _here_, when he's free." Luke looked past Howell's shoulder at Uncle Jesse, who was picking up a pickaxe, for help.

"Don't look at me, Luke, he's the man in charge!" Jesse shrugged. He knew Howell was right, and he wouldn't supercede the man's authority.

With a sigh, Luke relented, and handed his shovel off to another man. He walked off a few steps and started to sit down against the wall, but Howell stopped him.

"No - outside," he ordered, pointing.

With another vain, pleading look at Jesse, Luke did as he was told, followed by the rest of the third digging crew.

Outside the main entrance, he slumped against the rock, watching the other men disperse to family and friends. His family and best friend were still inside, and he felt alone watching the faces around the bright firelight. The stars shone bright and plentiful in the velvety night sky, only a sliver of a moon showing. The Thumbnail of God, Uncle Jesse had called it when he was little. He closed his eyes, feeling the cool breeze that swept the sweat and heat from his body, and thought what an awful thing it would be to die in those black caves, without the sun, the moon, or the stars.

Luke didn't know if he had dozed off or simply lost track of time. A dim rumbling sound met his ears, and he was on his feet and sprinting into the cave before he heard the shouts.

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	6. Too Close

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**Chapter 6: Too Close**

He reached the flashlight-lit dig site in record time, his heart leaping through his chest when he saw the cloud of dust billowing out from the tunnel and the soot-covered digging crew stumbling out of _the_ tunnel. Jesse was the last to exit.

"What happened!" Howell asked Jesse, "Was there a cave-in?"

"No!" Jesse coughed as Luke ran up. "No, just that sound, and dust everywhere!"

Grabbing a flashlight from someone's hand, Luke ran into the excavated tunnel before Howell could stop him. The foreman shouted after him, then took up a shovel and followed.

Luke could hardly see anything through the thick black dust, and he nearly ran into the crumbled rock. He could see part of the last length of pipe lying uncovered, and a small slide of loose stone had scattered down to the floor.

"Bo! BO!" he called, kneeling next to the pipe. Less than five feet of black rock separated the inseparable cousins. He leaned down and shined the flashlight through the two-inch pipe, listening for any sign. He saw an arm, a bloodstained tan shirt, and a tuft of coal-blackened blond hair. "Bo?" he asked again softly, afraid.

The hair shifted, and a cornflower-blue eye met his. "Luke?" The hoarse voice quavered, timid and scared. "Please, Luke…the rock shifted…I don't want to die in here."

"You won't, Bo," Luke promised, then whirled around at a sound behind him. Ben Howell stood there, and handed him a second shovel. He'd heard every word.

"Just dig on that side. Be careful when you get deeper in, you don't want to hit him by accident."

The pair fell at the rubble pile, flinging the loose stones haphazardly behind them. Luke kept one foot balanced on the pipe, his guide to his cousin, and hacked furiously at the stone. Others came in behind them and picked up their abandoned flashlights, cleared away the loose stone, and watched for another temblor. Four feet of stone…three…two…Luke's shovel hit something solid, a boulder he couldn't budge. Frustrated - so close! - he started clearing away around it, only to realize that this must be the slab looming over his cousin. He got down on his knees and carefully scraped at the loose stone below the slab with his shovel, then with his hands. Low down - less than two feet off the ground - his fingers broke through into an open space.

"Uncle Jesse!" Luke shouted over his shoulder.

He scrambled to clear out the rest, shoving the black rock behind him, beneath him, anywhere to get it out of the way, and found himself looking at two terrified blue eyes, the rest of his cousin covered in black soot. Bo lay on his stomach, pressed flat between the ground and the rock slab, his saving grace the small boulder - the same that had broken his arm - that wedged the slab from falling flat to the ground. Luke held out a hand, and Bo paused before taking it, almost in disbelief. His cousin's strong grip pulled him out from the narrow crevice. The motion was the last the small boulder could take, and it crumbled under the weight of the slab with a thunderous rumble.

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Jesse Duke carried his youngest nephew out of the narrow tunnel, his grip a fierce embrace of the boy he'd very nearly lost. Bo curled against him, trembling, broken arm cradled on his chest. Luke followed him, hands cut and bleeding in places from the sharp stone. Jesse didn't stop when he reached the main tunnel, but went right on out towards the exit, the air feeling fresher to Bo's lungs with every step. Cooter and Daisy fell in with Luke, flashlights in hand, lighting the way. The men behind them broke into applause and cheering, and quickly gathered their tools to follow and leave the damned mines forever. Ben Howell had tears streaming silently down his face, seeing not Bo Duke, but the brother whose body had never been found.

As they came in sight of the tunnel mouth, Bo looked up at his uncle. "Uncle Jesse…" he said softly, "I…I think I can walk…"

Jesse looked down at him and realized he hadn't even asked if he could…he'd run into the tunnel at Luke's call and just swept his nephew up like he was a small boy again, his first instinct to _get him out_. Jesse nodded and stopped, lowering Bo's legs to the ground. He was shaky, at first, and grabbed an arm around Jesse's neck for support, but the blood started flowing and it felt good to be on his feet again. With Luke and Daisy on his left and Jesse and Cooter on his right, he stepped out of the cave mouth, looking out over the encampment below. Dawn tinted the night sky grey and light blue, and the stars were disappearing one by one.

"Holy…" Bo began, staring.

"Watch your language," Jesse murmured.

Fires had burned low, and many were sleeping, but the last shift of diggers was still up and about, and they cheered when they saw Bo, waking the rest of the camp. The Duke family - and Cooter - walked slowly down the slope, keeping pace with Bo and his stiff limbs. The rest of the digging party came out minutes behind them, cheering down to their fellows below. Bo looked dazed amid the crowd of handshakes and shoulder-clapping that descended on him, and he smiled and responded as best he could, bewildered. Luke was surprised to see Boss Hogg still present, stepping out of his car where he'd been sleeping in the back seat. All Boss was really after in this whole thing was good P.R., there being an election in the fall, and it did a public figure good to be seen joining in with the righteous cause. He sported a broad bruise and a cut on his chin, and immediately shied away when he saw Luke standing protectively next to his cousin.

"Keep him away, keep that mad Duke away from me!" he shouted to Rosco as he stumbled backwards and fell. Luke offered him a hand up, but he scrambled back. The dark-haired Duke shook his head in disgust.

"I'm not gonna hit you, Boss!"

"Yes you will, I don't trust you, Luke Duke!"

Jesse and Bo both stared at Luke, who blushed scarlet. "I'll tell you later."

The crowd eventually parted to let the family through, and they headed towards the waiting ambulance in the parking lot. The paramedics had spent the night with the rest of the well-wishers, and now opened up the back door so Bo could climb in. The blond Duke followed his family amicably, glad to be away from the confusion of the crowd, until he saw the ambulance. He stopped dead, and backpedaled a step.

"Whoa, whoa, wait, what's that?" He stared at the small, dark interior, just tall enough for a man to sit up.

Luke looked from Bo to the car. "That's an ambulance. You need to go to the hospital, Bo."

His cousin was shaking his head. "No, no, no. Not in that I don't." _Just a coat of paint between an ambulance and a hearse, _he thought. "Can't we take Uncle Jesse's truck?"

Luke looked at his uncle, not understanding. "I…guess…" he said slowly. Might as well humor Bo. He looked at the paramedics. "Do you mind?" The men shrugged. Since Bo looked to be in reasonably good shape, it was all the same to them. "Okay. Uncle Jesse's truck it is, then."

They walked a bit further on down the parking lot to the family cars. Jesse climbed into the driver's seat while Luke helped Bo into the middle, then climbed in beside him. Cooter shut the door, and looked in through the open window.

"Daisy and I will take _my_ truck," he informed them, beating Daisy to the punch.

"We'll meet you there, Cooter," Luke confirmed, and they were off.

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Jesse Duke glanced away from the road to look across at his two nephews. Both had fallen asleep within minutes of pulling onto the main road, exhausted by the long night. Luke stirred once on the drive, lifting his head long enough to look at his cousin before closing his eyes again. Jesse was tired himself, but he could last a bit longer. He looked at Bo's face, coal-streaked with a long, shallow cut on his cheek, and tears filled his eyes as he thought of how close he'd been brushed by death. Jesse had prayed every nerve-wracking minute since the first collapse that he'd have his boy back, safe and sound. Bo, Luke, and Daisy had been his whole world since his brothers had died with their wives, and he couldn't bear to think of losing any of the children.

The trip to the hospital was quiet, with Cooter and Daisy following close behind. The emergency room was empty, and it didn't take long to get Bo in and looked at. He was cleaned up, his broken arm x-rayed and splinted until the swelling went down enough for a cast. He had a dozen or so cuts and gashes up and down his legs, where the sharp broken stone had cut through his jeans, but the rest of him, except for a little bruise and batter, was fine. Within an hour he'd been moved to a room on another floor to rest - the doctors wanted to keep him for the day for observation. They had a look at Luke's hands, suturing one deep gash at the fleshy base of his thumb, and cleaning and bandaging the others. He found Daisy, Cooter, and Jesse all in Bo's room, looking on as he slept.

"We were talkin' about getting a motel for the day, to get some sleep. Not much we can do here," Cooter filled Luke in as he entered.

"I'll stay here," Luke said, looking at his cousin.

The mechanic smiled gently. "We thought you might. They brought in a chair for you, and some blankets," he indicated next to the bed.

"We'll call and let the front desk know where we're staying," Jesse said, "And we'll be back a little after noon." It was just past six a.m.

Luke nodded, yawning. "Drive safe," he cautioned, sitting down in the comfy chair.

Daisy kissed his forehead. "Get some rest, Luke, you look terrible."

That brought out a smile. "_Thanks_, Daisy."

She filed out, followed by Cooter and Jesse. Jesse paused at the door while the other two stood in the hall, and then turned back into the room. He picked up one of the folded blankets at Bo's feet and covered his eldest nephew, who was already asleep.

* * *


	7. Fireworks

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Chapter 7: Fireworks

Bo woke up well before his cousin, at the soft knock of a nurse at the open door.

"Beauregard Duke?" she asked, glancing at a chart. Bo sat up and nodded an affirmative. "Dr. Perkins would like to have a look at your arm."

Bo shrugged. "Okay."

The nurse stepped back and a white-coated doctor entered. He was a small, thin man with thinning gray hair and a frown that appeared permanently disappointed with whatever he looked at. He walked softly, with a fleeting glance at the undisturbed and slumbering Luke.

"How are you this afternoon, Mr. Duke?" he asked in an indifferent tone. Without waiting for an answer, he peered at the splinted limb that lay across Bo's lap. A ragged cut ran the length of his forearm, already closed, but the bruised skin has diminished back to normal proportions. "The swelling is down quite a bit from this morning, I think we can put a cast on it now," the doctor said aloud, speaking only half to Bo and half to himself. "Nurse Evans will escort you down to Orthopedics."

The nurse, who was waiting at the door, stepped forward as the doctor took his leave and pulled a wheel chair from the corner. Bo swung his legs to the floor and looked at it skeptically.

"It's my arm that's broken, ma'am."

The nurse smiled sweetly. "It's your leg that will be if you don't sit down."

Not needing to be told twice, Bo sat in the wheelchair. He looked back at Luke. "But…"

"Your cousin will be fine, you'll probably be back here before he wakes up," she assured him and wheeled him off.

Later on, Bo had to give her credit - she was right. In fact, it wasn't until after Bo returned from the Orthopedics department, sporting cast and sling, after Jesse, Daisy, and Cooter returned bringing his freshly cleaned clothes, and after he'd nearly finished dressing, that Luke stirred. Bo stood at the foot of the bed buttoning his shirt and watched with some amusement as Luke opened his eyes, blinked, looked at the empty bed, and was half out of his chair with alarm before he saw Bo standing there.

"Afternoon, Luke," Bo greeted him with a bright smile.

Luke was dumbstruck for a moment, looking his cousin up and down and seeing him mostly whole and healthy. Then he took two steps forward and pulled Bo into a fierce hug. For his part, Bo was surprised - Luke wasn't usually a particularly expressive person.

"God, you scared me!" Luke exclaimed.

"I'm alright, Luke," Bo reassured him and returned the grip with his right arm. His cousin released him, stepping back to look at him again and be sure. "Uncle Jesse an' Daisy an' Cooter are waiting outside. The hospital's releasin' me, an' we're gonna go get something to eat."

Luke glanced out the half-open window blinds at the bright sun outside. "What time is it?"

"Near four o'clock."

The room door opened, and Jesse walked in, Cooter and Daisy in tow. "You done changin' yet, Bo?" Jesse asked, seeing the answer.

"Look who's awake," Daisy commented with a smile, walking to Luke's side. He smiled back, and draped a brotherly arm around her shoulders. The three had already hugged and greeted Bo earlier, when they'd first arrived.

"Y'all hungry?" Cooter asked, his stomach growling.

"Starving," Bo declared, and was the first to head for the door.

--------------------

They ate at a diner on the edge of the city. Bo ordered the largest item on the menu - a whopping five-pound burger with all the fixin's and fries - but it proved more than he could finish in one sitting, despite his 24-hour famine. Cooter finished it for him. Then they divided back up into the two vehicles - Bo firmly set between Luke and Jesse - and drove back to Hazzard. Bo thought Jesse was being a mite overprotective when he slowed down to the speed limit all the way back - Cooter and Daisy quickly passed them and sped on ahead. He also noticed the CB was turned off. When he reached to turn it on, Jesse swatted his hand away.

"Leave that noisy thing off, it's nice and quiet in here!"

Bo looked at Luke, who shrugged, and went back to looking out the window.

When they reached the outskirts of home, though, Jesse didn't turn off onto any of the roads that led home, but continued straight south into town. Bo and Luke were both looking around at the road and the buildings, trying to discern some reason for the detour. Then they turned a bend on the far end of town, and realized they were headed for the fairgrounds. As they came in sight, Bo saw Cooter's truck in the parking lot, and a huge crowd waiting at the edge of the field. He was also amazed to see the Ferris wheel still running, the merry-go-round still twirling, the whole fair in full swing. He was still staring as Jesse parked the truck and all three climbed out. Daisy ran up, with Cooter trailing along behind. Bo realized the pair had driven on ahead to alert the welcoming committee. Daisy took Bo's good arm and led him forward.

"They held over the fair, and the fireworks, until tonight," she explained with a delighted grin. The crowd ahead was cheering, composed mostly of those who'd arrived at the mines at some point the previous night for help and support. Jesse, Luke, and Cooter followed behind.

"Not for _me_!" Bo asked, incredulous.

"For you, and for everyone who came out to help you…they cancelled the fireworks last night, didn't figure it was proper to celebrate, and when the vendors realized how much profit they'd lose if they just left, they decided to stay too."

Bo shook his head in amazement. For the next two hours, he lost track of how many hands he shook, how many 'thank you's and 'Yes ma'am, I feel lucky to be alive's he said, as the entire County of Hazzard wanted to wish him well. Ladies insisted that he tried their jams and jellies, pies, cakes, and sweets of all kinds. Men clapped him heartily on the back (which was still rather bruised) and praised his courage and his luck. He met Ben Howell, and was surprised at the tears that fell when the old man hugged him. When they were satisfied, the crowd drifted apart in two's and three's, off to enjoy the remainder of the holiday fair. Bo briefly caught glimpse of Boss Hogg, who turned and went the other way when he saw Luke coming. Laughing, he turned to his cousin.

"What did you do?"

Luke blushed again, embarrassed. Daisy spoke for him. "He punched him!"

"You _punched_ Boss Hogg!" Bo thought he'd had all the shocks a man could take in one day.

Daisy continued, tears of laughter in her eyes, "You should have seen it…Boss went head over heels!" She imitated him rolling in the dirt, trying to get up.

Bo guffawed at the thought, slapping one knee. Jesse turned to look at his eldest nephew, torn between disapproval and mirth. He swallowed his laughter and settled on a frown.

"Lucas Duke, that is _not_ the way I raised you," he declared. Luke hung his head guiltily for a moment, until Jesse added, "But boy, do I wish I had been there to see it!"

Luke grinned, and listened as Daisy recounted the incident in detail. Jesse turned red with anger at Boss's words, and proudly hugged Luke's shoulder with one arm.

"Then again, there's some times when a little violence _is_ necessary," Jesse declared, and that was all he had to say about that.

Later on, when full dark had settled on the county and the stars bejeweled the night sky, the revelers migrated towards the open field and settled down on picnic blankets, waiting for the fireworks to begin. The first dazzling star of bright red burst without warning high in the sky, garnering an assortment of oooo's and ahhh's. The brilliant display that followed lit the sky in quick succession, radiant patterns of stars, spirals, sunbursts and lazy streamers that glittered as they drifted earthwards, in luminous colors of red, green, purple, blue, yellow, and gold. Luke looked down once from the display to see the delighted expression on Bo's face as he watched each burst of light. It was too soon when the final rocket whistled into the sky, and the crowd cheered the end of another - extended - Fourth of July celebration.

------------------

The busy evening and the late night was enough to make everyone appreciate the peace and quiet at home. Cooter dropped Daisy and Luke off at the mines to pick up Dixie and the General Lee, and then headed home himself. Jesse and Bo were already home - Jesse in the kitchen making tea, and Bo on the front porch, looking out at the stars - when Luke and Daisy drove up. Daisy excused herself and headed straight to bed, while Luke and Jesse both joined Bo on the porch. Jesse sat in a creaking old rocking chair, and Luke took a spot on the steps below his cousin.

For a little while, the only sound was that of the three Duke men breathing, relaxing, enjoying the night air. The faintest sniff caught Luke's ear, and he was surprised to glance up and see a tear trickling down his cousin's face as he looked up at the stars.

"What is it, Bo?" he asked softly.

Bo shook his head, and quickly wiped his face. "Nothing…I just…I didn't think I'd live to see the stars again," he explained, embarrassed to admit it.

Luke nodded in understanding.

After a little while, Jesse stood and excused himself, stretching and saying, "Well, this old man's gotta get to bed. There's plenty of chores been put off the last two days that need doin' in the mornin'. Don't stay up too late, boys. Good night."

"Good night, Uncle Jesse," his nephews echoed one another, and he went inside.

Despite sleeping half the day, Luke was tired as well, but he was still reluctant to leave his cousin. By his third jaw-cracking yawn, though, he decided it was time for him to turn in too.

"You coming in?" he asked Bo as he stood.

"No, I'm not that tired…I'm gonna stay out here a little while longer," Bo said.

Luke nodded and yawned again, patting his cousin's shoulder as he walked up the steps and headed inside.

It was much later when Bo finally stood up and headed into the farmhouse. The night air was fresher and sweeter than he remembered it, the crickets livelier, the night warblers more melodious. He reveled in the fresh joy of being able to walk, to move, to twist and turn and bend - movements he'd taken for granted all his life. Everything felt different, and strange.

Bo walked through the kitchen and stopped at the living room entrance by the light switches. He looked down the dark hallway, hearing Luke's soft snores coming from the room they shared, and louder snores coming from Uncle Jesse's room. He turned off the kitchen light, then immediately turned it back on, and found his hand was trembling. With another long look down the hallway, he walked instead to Jesse's armchair in the living room, sat down, and closed his eyes, the kitchen light shining bright as he fell asleep.

**Now, why do I have the feeling that this ain't the end of this story?**

* * *


	8. Aftermath

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 8: Aftermath**

The next few days were quiet ones on the Duke farm. The boys helped Uncle Jesse with repairs around the house and barn - Bo only wore the sling on and off, leaving his left hand free to hold a board steady or pull a shingle into place, despite the cast. Daisy went to work. Cooter came to deliver parts or to visit in his down time. Even Enos stopped in, pleased to see Bo up and about as usual.

Well, not quite as usual. Jesse didn't really notice those first couple of days, but after two weeks, he realized that he'd gotten more work out of Bo than in any given month of the year. Shingles, leaks, clapboards, porch posts, floorboards, squeaky hinges, locks, gates, and fences were just a few of the long-broken items that were suddenly fixed like new. Once they started working in the fields again, the young man had to be called several times to come in for dinner each night, even though he skipped lunch if no one brought it out to him. He was the first one awake in the morning, and the last to go to bed at night, often sitting late outside on the porch or in the branches of the oak tree out front. Bo smiled often and laughed more, and delighted in the company of his family moreso than ever. Jesse was amazed - the boy went to work with a will, spending every hour he could outside - and his uncle thought of how that life-changing event had matured him.

Luke was less amazed and more concerned, but he tried to ignore it, attributing the feeling to the strongly protective instinct he'd felt since the incident. It was hard for him at first to even let Bo out of his sight, but this seemed like more than that. The morning after that first night home, when he'd found Bo sleeping in the chair in the living room, he'd thought nothing of it. That is, until that night, when Bo slept in his own bed, and woke Luke up with a scream and a crash in the middle of the night.

"Sorry," Bo apologized, disentangling himself from the sheets on the floor as Uncle Jesse and Daisy ran into the room, "I'm okay. I fell out of bed, onto my arm."

"You sure you're alright?" Jesse asked before Luke or Daisy could.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Bo climbed back into bed. When Jesse and Daisy had gone back to their rooms, he got up again.

"Where ya goin'?" Luke asked.

"To get a glass of water," Bo said, closing the door behind him. Luke fell asleep before he came back, but Jesse found him at the kitchen table the next morning, head pillowed on his curled right arm and snoring softly.

Uncle Jesse found him sleeping like that once or twice more in the next few days, until Bo started getting up earlier than him. Every morning when Luke woke up, Bo's sheets and blankets were ruffled, but he didn't think Bo spent the night there. Once, bringing lunch out to him as he worked in the fields on the tractor, Luke found the tractor idle and cold, and Bo sound asleep underneath a tree.

About the time Jesse realized how much work Bo had done, Luke realized how little play he'd been doing. Not once had they taken the General out for a spin, though Bo had worked plenty on the little fixes and tunings that pampered the racecar. Not once had they gone out to the Boar's Nest for a beer. Not once had Bo mentioned girls in general, nor any in particular - not even Claire Dunney, who had been so grateful to him for risking his life to find her little brother. No, things just didn't add up to Luke, so one afternoon towards the end of July, he called over to Bo as his cousin carried an armful of leather harness straps from the barn to the porch, intending to mend the weak and worn spots.

"Hey Bo!"

Bo set the load down on one end of the steps and looked up. "Yeah, Luke?"

"I'm gonna take a ride into town to pick up some groceries for Uncle Jesse," Luke said, gesturing towards the vehicles parked out front, where the white pickup sat closest, "You want to come?"

Bo looked for a moment from Luke to the truck and then smiled. "Sure, why not?"

Luke grinned, and Bo followed him towards the vehicles, but Luke didn't stop at the truck - he walked right on past to the driver's side of the General. Bo stopped at the passenger side of the truck, smile gone.

"You're not taking the truck?"

"Naw, we haven't driven the General in ages! The groceries will fit in the trunk."

Bo took a step back towards the porch. "Actually, Luke, I, uh, I forgot, I promised Uncle Jesse I'd finish with Maudine's harness this afternoon so he can take her out tomorrow morning and haul some logs in to cut for firewood."

Luke tried not to show his disappointment. "Oh, alright. I'll see you later, then." He started the engine and headed out, not seeing the expression of painful longing on Bo's face as the young man watched the car move farther away and out of sight.

**Bo Duke refusing a ride in the General Lee? There's _definitely_ something wrong here.**

* * *


	9. Nightmares and Pie

* * *

**Chapter 9: Nightmares and Pie**

Luke gunned the engine and quickly shifted into the higher gears, speeding as fast as the car would go to siphon off some of his frustration. What was going on with Bo? The question kept repeating itself in his mind. He had no good answer. He thought as he drove, steering along the curving roads more by habit than by close attention. He was so wrapped up in thought that he nearly went right by a familiar car on the side of the road, the elderly driver standing in exasperation over a flat tire. Luke pulled over and reversed, coming up behind Doc Appleby's station wagon.

"Flat tire, Doc?" Luke asked, climbing out of the General Lee.

"Oh, Luke! Thank you for stopping! Why yes, and I think Cooter Davenport put one of these lug nuts on so tight I can't get it loose to change it!" Appleby explained.

"Are you in a hurry? I could give you a ride," Luke offered.

"Oh, no, I'm just coming back from town, no rush."

"Well, let's have a look at it, then."

Appleby had removed two of the five lug nuts, and Luke had to agree, that one was stuck fast. He secured the tire iron over it and gripped it tightly, straining every muscle trying to force it to move. It budged a fraction of an inch, and Luke let go, resting for a moment.

"Y'know, Doc, I think you might be just the person I need to talk to…"

"About what, Luke?"

As Luke strained at the stubborn lug nut - finally removing it, threads stripped - and moved on to the others, he explained Bo's unusual behavior of late, and his inability to figure out what was wrong with his cousin. Flat tire removed, Luke pulled out the spare and lifted it into place, and began refastening the four good lug nuts.

"Well, Luke, there's nothing _wrong_ with Bo, per se," Appleby said after thinking for a few moments. "Actually, I'd think you would understand better than others."

Luke looked up at him with a quizzical expression.

"I might be wrong, but it sounds to me like Bo's experiencing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder - lack of sleep, not eating well, loss of interest in what he once found enjoyable, extreme changes in behavior. It wouldn't surprise me, given the trauma he went through, though I'd need to speak with him directly to be sure."

Luke set down the tire iron, stunned at the revelation. Why hadn't he seen it before? The dark-haired Duke remembered his own misery in the weeks after returning from Vietnam, when the term had first been thrown around by doctors and psychiatrists. It had taken quite a while before he'd even said anything to Uncle Jesse, and a number of long talks after that, before the nightmares started receding and he began to sleep through the night again. And now Bo…

"What can we do to help him?" Luke asked, thoughtful. He realized he was neglecting the tire, and went back to work, fastening the last two nuts and lowering the jack.

"Well, that really depends on how strongly it's affecting him. A good start would be to get him to open up, talk about what's bothering him, but let _him_ do the talking."

"Yeah, that can be pretty hard," Luke commented, knowing from his own experience. He wiped his hands clean on a rag and replaced the tools and flat tire in the trunk. "Thanks, Doc!"

"No problem, Luke, thank you!" Appleby said, touching a hand to Luke's shoulder, "Have your Uncle Jesse give me a call, I'll talk with him about it too."

Luke smiled. "I will. See you later, Doc."

He climbed back into the General and raced for town, eager to get back to the farmhouse and talk to Bo.

----------------

Luke's first attempt didn't go so well.

"Nothing's wrong, Luke! I'm fine!" Bo stalked out of the barn where he'd been hanging Maudine's newly repaired harness, slamming the door shut behind him.

Luke's second attempt didn't go so well either.

"Luke, would you quit bugging me! I'm trying to work!" Bo yelled the next morning, revving the tractor engine and urging it to go faster out on the west fields.

That night, he was in the yard throwing feed to the chickens when Daisy walked up.

"Are you gonna ask me what's wrong too?" he snapped angrily.

"No, I was gonna tell you dinner is ready, but now I'm gonna tell you not to come in until you get that chip off your shoulder," Daisy rebuked him, and left. He didn't come in for dinner.

The next day, he was mucking out Maudine's stall - awkwardly, given the limited use of his left hand and arm - when Jesse came into the barn and closed the door behind him. Jesse sat down on a bale of hay, and called over to his youngest nephew.

"Come on over here, Bo. I'd like to talk."

Bo glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, pausing mid-scoop, and continued working. "I'm busy."

"I said, _come here,_ Bo. That's the fourth time you've cleaned that mule's stall this week, and you don't change your own sheets that often!"

Bo stepped out of the stall but stood at the gate, leaning the pitchfork on the ground with his good hand. "What is it, Uncle Jesse?" he asked, his voice level, but his hands shaking ever so slightly.

"I want you to tell me what's been going on."

"Ain't nothing to tell."

"That's not what Luke's told me."

Bo scoffed and turned, picking up the pitchfork again. "Luke needs to mind his own damned business."

"_Beauregard Duke, you will not use that language and you will not speak about your cousin like that!_" Jesse commanded in a tone that knew no argument. "Luke loves you like a brother, and he only wants to help."

"Then he can help by leaving me alone!" Bo yelled.

------------

Daisy heard the indistinct shout from the kitchen, where she was baking a pair of peach and rhubarb pies. She came out onto the porch with a frown, looking towards the barn. Luke sat on the steps, aimlessly whittling at a stick with long strokes of his buck knife.

"Uncle Jesse said to stay here."

"That sounded like Bo."

"Uncle Jesse's talkin' to him." Luke went on whittling at the stick, a small pile of shavings in front of him.

Daisy frowned again, and went back inside.

------------

"Help by leaving you alone? Did he leave you alone when you were trapped in that mine? Did he leave you alone in the hospital?" Jesse asked none too softly. "Answer me, Bo!"

"No…" Bo answered grudgingly.

"Then why should he leave you alone now?"

"Because…because…" Bo had no answer. He was trembling visibly now.

Jesse stared at him with a fixed, unflinching expression. "I'm waiting."

"What do you want to hear, Uncle Jesse?..!" Bo cried. Hot tears spilled down his cheeks. "What do you want me to say?..! That I can't sleep at night, because every time I close my eyes I see that black boulder falling down on me?..! That I'm afraid of the dark, that I need the light on, like a little kid?..! That I can't hardly even look at the General Lee, 'cause the thought of climbing inside that little space makes my heart pound and the breath freeze up in my chest?..!"

Jesse was on his feet in an instant, pulling his nephew into a hug and leaving the pitchfork to fall to the ground. Bo sobbed against his chest, cried every tear he'd held back from every nightmare and terror and fear of the last three weeks, cried until he was exhausted and Jesse led him over to sit on the bales of hay, rubbing his back and whispering, "It's okay, son, it's okay…I wish you had told me, it's okay…"

Tears spent, Bo sat up a little, wiping red eyes and sniffing, trying to regain some sense of pride. Jesse held one arm around his shoulders, and Bo leaned into his uncle for support.

"I'm sorry you had to go through all this alone, Bo."

Bo looked down at the dirt floor, refusing to meet his uncle's eyes. "It's not your fault, Uncle Jesse," he said in a cracked voice. He sniffed again and wiped at his nose.

"But it is, Bo. I'm your wise old uncle, I'm supposed to recognize these things and say the right thing at the right time and make it all better."

His tone brought half a smile to Bo's face, which was quickly gone.

"I don't know what to do, Uncle Jesse," he said miserably.

"You ready to talk now?"

Bo nodded, sniffing. Jesse hugged his shoulder tightly, reassuringly, and let go.

"Now, what's been happening?"

Bo told him about the nightmares first, part flashback and part dream where he was back in the black mines, running from falling stones or trapped and unable to move or even look away as boulders came crashing down towards him, or the other nightmares where he was simply trapped and couldn't move, and he found himself shut in a coffin, being buried alive while he screamed and no one heard him. He spoke of his terror of the dark, the panic attacks he'd gotten when he found himself alone in the pitch black barn or inside the house, his inability to fall asleep in a darkened room, his immediate jolt of fright that first week when Luke would go to bed later than he and turn the lamp off as he climbed into bed. He spoke of the fear the coursed through him every time he stepped into a smaller space like the tool shed or the bathroom, how it felt like the walls would collapse in on him and how he couldn't breathe. He spoke of how he tried, he tried to fight it, to force himself to face the dark and the close spaces, but he couldn't do it, he failed every time, he only made it worse. He spoke of every feeling of fear and dread and misery that he'd felt and hidden for the last three weeks, ashamed and embarrassed and angry with himself for his weakness and cowardice. He never looked up at Jesse, or he would have seen his uncle listening with his jaw set tight and eyes closed, shedding his own tears for his nephew's torments.

After a while Bo ran out of words and fell silent, staring at the floor, fearing his uncle's reproving lecture. He didn't care anymore, if Uncle Jesse thought him a coward, he was a coward, he might as well accept it. Jesse didn't speak for several long minutes, but he pulled his nephew closer, and kissed him on the forehead.

"I'm sorry you had to go through all this alone, Bo," he repeated again, his voice heavy with emotion. "You're one of the bravest men I know, you always have been, ever since you were a child, and…don't interrupt me now, just listen," he chided gently as Bo tried to object, "…and I should have thought that you'd want to handle something like this on your own, and I should have seen it sooner, and you shouldn't have been alone all those nights."

"Uncle Jesse, I'm not brave," Bo said quietly, swallowing painfully.

"Yes you are, Bo. It takes courage just to say what you'd said to me now - there's many a man who won't admit their fear, who blame it on something else, or drown it in drink. But now that you have told me, now that I know, I can help you, and Luke can help you…"

"You won't tell Luke!" Bo cried, half-question and half-plea. The last thing he wanted was for Luke to think him afraid.

"No, I won't, but I think you should…I think he'll understand more than you believe," Jesse said kindly.

Bo's first reaction was to refuse, but he said nothing, torn.

"You don't have to decide now, just think about it."

Bo nodded gratefully.

"I'd like you to tell me something though, Bo."

The blond-haired Duke looked up, waiting.

"What is it you are so afraid of, in your nightmares, in the mines?"

Bo looked down again, shoulders drooping. "Dying, I guess," he said finally.

"Why?"

Bo looked back up. Jesse was waiting patiently, almost curious. Bo would have thought the answer was obvious. "Because…I want to live, I don't want to die."

"What do you want to live for?"

Again, Bo thought it was obvious. "Well, I want to live to…to be with you, and Luke, and Daisy, and my friends…I want to race the General, and leave Rosco in the dust when he tries to pull me over…I want to hunt and fish and go swimming on hot days…I want to meet a pretty girl, and maybe someday get married an' have kids of my own…" he trailed off.

"Bo…are you doing any of those things now?"

Tears started to fill his eyes again. "No."

Jesse hugged him again, then stood up, pulling Bo up before him. "Then I suggest you dry your eyes, stand up tall, and start living again," he said, gentle but firm, looking Bo straight in the eye as he wiped away the boy's tears.

"I'll try, Uncle Jesse," Bo promised with a small smile.

Jesse sniffed the air. "And you can start…by sharing some of Daisy's pie with me," he invited.

Bo nodded. "I'll be along in a few minutes," he assured. He wanted to compose himself first, before facing his cousins.

Jesse smiled, understanding. "Better come before Luke gets it all."

-------------------

The next day, after one last night sleeping at the kitchen table, Bo approached Luke and asked to talk to him. They found a quiet corner by the barn, and Bo told him much, but not all of what he'd told Jesse. He was surprised when Luke understood, and shared his own experience in return.

"I know it's not easy to live through, and it's not easy to remember, but you've got all of us here for you," Luke told him, "Any time you need us."

That night, Bo slept in his own bed, and Luke was right there when he jolted awake from a nightmare, staying with him until he fell back asleep. And the next night. And the next.

The next morning, Daisy went with him into the chicken coop to collect eggs, and though he left before they were halfway through, the next morning he came back with her and finished the whole thing.

It was a week before Luke walked around the corner of the farmhouse and saw Bo sitting in the passenger seat of the General Lee, pale and trembling, with his eyes closed. When Luke asked if he wanted to drive around, Bo shook his head no, and had to be helped out of the car. Luke found him there again the next day, the same way, and the next. At the end of August, not long after his cast came off, Bo timidly asked if Luke would drive them into town.

"Any place in particular?"

"No, just drive."

By the end of September, Bo could sleep through the night. He could walk through the dark with only a flicker of fear, which he refused to acknowledge. He enjoyed riding in the General again, though he still had to steel himself to climb in and out. He went to the Boar's Nest with Luke for beers, visiting with Daisy and talking with Cooter and Enos. He flirted with pretty girls at the bar, and eventually started dating Claire Dunney. He slacked off again on the work on the farm. He took turns driving the General again, and whipped Rosco a few times when the sheriff tried to catch him for speeding. He lived.

**The End**

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End file.
